


A Second Chance to See You Again

by SoraTrancy



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Anime Universe, California, Coma, Fluff, I just love these boys more than my own life, Near Death, Reunions, Second Chances, Sweet, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 11:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21179051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoraTrancy/pseuds/SoraTrancy
Summary: Ash Lynx is given a second chance to start over, a second chance to see him again so, of course he's going to take it.Inspired by@nakimooshi's'Ash Lives'tweet.  Their account is now protected, so you have to follow them to view the tweet.





	A Second Chance to See You Again

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting from mobile so, hopefully it uploads okay 🤞🙏
> 
> My internet is down, so laptop uploading is a no go right now, but I wanted to get this up.
> 
> Made a few grammatical edits, but that's it!!

_ "Ash," _ a voice whispered.  _ "Come on man," _ it persisted,  _ "you shouldn't be here." _ Ash opened his eyes and squinted in the blinding white light that surrounded him. "Ah hell, what did you do man?"

"Shorter?" Ash's eyes finally focused on the person that the voice belonged to.

"Yeah man, it's me," Shorter replied, tousling the purple fluff of his mohawk.

Ash sat up from the ground he was lying on, his eyes scanning over his friend. How . . . how was this possible? Shorter was dead,  _ killed _ by his own hands. How was he standing right here in front of—? His jade eyes locked onto the feathery white wings behind his friend, feeling a drop in his stomach. He was an angel? That meant—

Ash looked down at his own body, adorned in white. He pulled at the robes, looking down at his abdomen. There it was, the subtle mark of the knife on the right side of his ribcage.

"Seriously?" Shorter snickered. "You— _ the _ Ash Lynx—died from a  _ stab wound _ ?"

Ash pouted, turning away. "Shut up you asshole."

The other man wiped away a dramatic tear and plopped down in front of him. "Who the hell did you let get close enough to stab you?"

The blond thought back, the events a bit hazy in his mind. "I was . . . Sing gave me something . . ." Ash's eyes widened, remembering the ticket, his letter. "Eiji's gone now. I missed my chance." He tightened his fists. "Lao," he growled.

"Wait,  _ Lao _ killed you?" Ash gave a nod, his hand brushing over his side. "Bastard, what the hell did he do that for?" Ash explained what happened after his friend's death. Shorter listened, with a hand to his lip, taking in everything. "So they blamed you huh?" He sighed. "I mean, I guess I understand, considering you did  _ technically _ kill me. But you told them why, _right_?" Ash looked away. "You  _ idiot _ ," Shorter said with a sigh. "So Dino's gone then too?" Ash nodded. "Good, hope that bastard rots for everything he did."

"Well," Shorter stood and stretched his arms up, his wings flexing out to his sides, capturing Ash's gaze, "come on, let's go."

"Go?" Ash pushed himself to his feet. "Go where?"

Shorter linked an arm around the blonde's shoulders and turned him to walk in the opposite direction they had been facing. "You've still got a chance to see Eiji again."

Ash shot his eyes up to Shorters, meeting a wide grin. "What do you mean?" Ash pushed him away, a sinking dread hitting him hard. "He's not dead right? You're not telling me he's dead, are you?"

"What—no!" Shorter shouted and Ash let out a sigh in relief. "You  _ do _ want to see him again, don't you?" Shorter asked.

Ash looked away. "Of course I do."

Shorter chuckled and threw his arms around Ash, before the blond could retaliate, squeezing him tightly. "I knew you would." He let go and smiled. "Then go to him," he whispered, before roughly shoving at Ash's chest.

"What the—" Ash's body dropped from the clouds, plummeting downward. Shorter waved from the edge of the cloud, shouting something that Ash couldn't hear over the roar of the wind whipping around him. He glanced back behind his body, trying to get a glimpse at his own wings, control them. His eyes widened in shock; there were no white feathers, no wings at all. How—Shorter had them, why didn't he?

Was he going to die again, crashing into the earth below? Was it possible to die twice? He would soon find out, as he watched the tall buildings growing closer and closer, seeming like they were already within arms reach. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact of his body crashing through glass and steel.

But the feeling never came and his body came to a slow stop. He could hear whispers around him, as a very faint beeping crept into his ears. He let his eyes crack open just to be blinded by a bright light once more. He turned his head away from it, but this time, something heavy kept his face from moving too much. His whole body felt heavy. Was he actually just in purgatory, destined to keep waking up in the clouds over and over?

_ "Ash!" _ a voice sounded from far away. This one was different than Shorter's, but still familiar.  _ "I saw him _ — _ he moved!" _

Ash tried again to get a glimpse of the person shouting so close to him. He could see the outline of a figure next to his bed, but couldn't make out any details. "Ash!" the voice called again and he felt a hand encase his own, large fingers covering his thin ones.

_ " _ — _ Mm _ — _ " _ he tried to speak, but felt something tight in his throat.

"Hey kid, it's me," the man said, softer this time. "Don't try to talk, you're okay now." Ash did his best to nod, his eyes finally starting to focus.

Max's face came into view, crows feet in the creases of his eyes and stubble coming in along his jaw. He looked older than he did last time Ash saw him. How long had he been dead for?

"He's awake?" Another person entered the room and raced up to the bed, long blond hair tied up into a bun atop her head. "Ash, oh my god you had us so scared!" Jessica rested her hands onto Max's, which were still holding Ash's. She turned over her shoulder and shouted, "Can someone  _ please _ get this damn tube out of his mouth!" Max just chuckled.

" _ Three months _ ?" Ash croaked, soup running down his chin. He had been slowly unhooked from the machines surrounding him over the past few days and was finally able to eat real food again. It was just a bland broth, but it tasted like a full meal compared to the taste of plastic in his throat.

"Yeah," Jessica chuckled and wiped it up with a napkin, "they were beginning to think you'd never wake up." She fed him another spoonful, slower this time. "But I told those doctors that you would. I just  _ knew _ that you would." Ash turned his head to the sound of Max softly snoring from the chair in the corner of the room, with Michael curled up against his chest. Jessica chuckled. "Max was here as soon as Charlie called and told us what happened." She lightly smacked him on the side of the head. "You brat--why didn't you get help?"

Ash rolled his eyes and turned away from the incoming spoonful of broth. " _ None _ — _ your business _ —" he smirked, "— _ hag _ ." She roughly forced the spoon into his mouth, causing him to choke on the liquid, waking up Max on the other side of the room.

"— _ Yeah that would be great; he would like that a lot _ ," Max whispered into the mouthpiece of his phone as he set down the last box on the floor.  _ "Yeah, just let me know. Thanks. _ " He ended the call and slipped it into his pocket. Ash was standing over by the window of the house, looking out onto the neighborhood street. "So," Max leaned on his shoulder, "whaddya think?"

"I've been here before," he smirked, "or did you forget that old man?"

Max growled. "You've just always gotta run that mouth don't you?" Ash shrugged and returned his gaze out the window. "Well, I do hope that you'll stay—"

"I am," Ash said, matter-of-factly. "I know Alex will take good care of them."

Max gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Yeah, he's a good kid; they all are."

"Yeah," Ash leaned against the windowpane. Max patted his back before stepping out of the room and giving him time to settle in. Ash wandered around his new room, unpacking his things and getting adjusted to starting a new life here. California was so vastly different from his life back in New York. He would, of course, be going back to check in with everyone, make sure that things were going well. They were still his family after all.

The weeks blurred into months, the hot air of spring quickly turning cooler with the approaching autumn. Things had been relatively calm, not something Ash was used to, but a change he was happy to accept. He had been keeping himself busy, working with the LA police on missing children's cases. Knowing firsthand what those children would go through, he wanted to help find them all and make sure to track down those bastards and make them pay for what they did. The police had been hesitant at first, knowing Ash had been involved with a gang in New York and had killed multiple people, but after having spoken with Max, and getting recommendations from Charlie, they had agreed to let him help work the cases, unarmed.

He had also been keeping in contact with Alex, and things were going well back in New York. With Dino now gone, and Ash on the opposite side of the country, Yut-Lung had promised that he would leave him alone, focusing instead on running the Lee clan, now that he was the only brother alive. Sing had been silent for a while, the death of Lao leaving him angry, moreso at his own brother than Ash for being the one to kill him. He had a feeling that Lao had been up to something that day, and when he received a call from the police about his brother's dead body being found outside of the library that Ash had also been found critically injured, he wasn't very surprised that the two were connected. His brother had been foolish once more and paid the ultimate price this time. He eventually met up with Alex to discuss a new alliance between the two gangs, a truce that they would stand by each other instead of against.

It was late into the night when Ash returned back to the Glenreed home, having just safely reunited a little girl with her family after tracking her abductors for two days. They hadn't done anything to her, thank god, and she was just shaken up and scared from being away from her parents. He was exhausted, wanting nothing but to just crash in his bed and sleep for a week. He quietly slipped into the house and headed straight for the bathroom, needing a shower before anything else.

He let the hot water beat down on his body, loosening his tight muscles and helping him to relax. Once clean and dried off, he headed down the hallway to his own room. He tossed his dirty clothes on the floor and crawled under the covers, falling asleep almost immediately.

_ "I think he got back pretty late last night, we might want to let him sleep a bit longer," _ Max's voice whispered from outside of the bedroom.

_ "Oh no, he is  _ not _ sleeping through this, I don't care how tired he is!" _ Jessica sounded after, stomping her foot on the ground.

_ "No, wait _ — _ "  _ Max was cut off as the door to the room flew open and his fiance stomped into the room.

"Wake up!" she shouted and ripped the covers from Ash's body. The blond flinched at the sudden cold air on his skin and cracked his eyes open to glare at the woman next to his bed. "Don't give me that look; you'd be twice as pissed if I let you sleep through this! So get up and get dressed!"

She turned and promptly left the room and Max chuckled nervously. "She's right though, you should probably get ready."

Ash growled but pulled himself up from the bed. He threw on a t-shirt and some sweatpants from his dresser. What the hell did they want him up for? He just wanted to sleep. 

He stumbled from his bedroom and down the hallway, letting the smell of fresh coffee pull him toward the kitchen. Once he got some caffeine in his system, he knew he would feel much better for the time being and just head back to sleep once they left him alone. He grabbed himself a mug and poured himself a hot cup, melting onto a chair in the dining room table with it clasped between his hands.

"Mornin' Ash!" Michael's small voice sounded as he sat himself down at the table next to him.

"Hey kid." Ash tousled his curly hair with a smile.

"Daddy told me that it was your birthday today, so," he beamed up at the blond, "happy birthday!"

"Ah," Ash sipped at his coffee, letting the warmth seep into his body, "that's why they were so insistent on me getting up. I would've rather just slept."

Michael cocked his head to the side. "But—"

"Hey, there you are!" Max's voice shouted from the doorway, big grin across his face. "Happy birthday kid!"

Ash sighed. "I'm not a kid, quit callin' me that."

Max chuckled. "As long as you're younger than me, you'll still be a kid." Ash rolled his eyes and rested his head on the table. "Well, anything you want to do today?"

"Sleep," he murmured into the wood.

Max rolled his eyes. " _ Other _ than sleep? Maybe go out, do some shopping?"

"Nah, just sleep," Ash stated again.

The doorbell sounded and Max thumped a hand on the wall. "Better go see who that is, be back in a sec." He waved to Michael, who smiled and hopped down from the table, exiting the room with his father.

Ash rolled his head the other direction and closed his eyes. Were they really going to force him to go out and do something? It was his birthday after all. He could hear Max quietly speaking with the person at the door, not being able to pick up anything they were saying. Probably just the mailman.

But the door closed and he could pick up the sound of extra footsteps inside of the house. He hoped it wasn't the neighbor from down the street. She had been doing everything in her power to try and woo Ash over, even though she was definitely older than him by quite a bit.

He listened as they came to the dining area and sighed. "I don't want company, tell them to leave," he muttered, keeping his eyes closed.

"A-Ash—" The blond shot up from the table, fully awake at the sound of his voice. There he was, standing between Max and Ibe, his large brown eyes welling up with tears.

Ash slowly stepped around the edge of the table. "E-Eiji—" His friend raced over from the entryway and collided into Ash, hugging him tightly. "Wh-what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Japan."

Eiji kept his grip on Ash, his fists balling on the back of the shirt. "Happy birthday, Ash." The blond felt his throat tighten and finally returned the hug, burying his face in Eiji's soft black hair, the familiar smell filling his nostrils and settling in the warmth of his chest. "I—I was so scared," Eiji said, his voice wobbly. "Ibe-san told me that you were in the hospital, a-and I wanted to come back right away, but my parents refused to let me." Ash had figured as much, after all, Eiji had almost been killed last time he was in America. "But Ibe-san promised he would bring me once I was all healed up." He sniffed and finally pulled back, wiping his eyes with the heel of his palm. "I'm so thankful that you are alright."

"No,  _ I'm _ the one who should be thankful," Ash said softly. "I thought—I thought I was going to lose you. It was my fault—"

" _ No _ !" Eiji's hands flew up to cup Ash's face, the warm touch sending the first tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. "It was not your fault, Ash," Eiji whispered, tears rolling down his face as well.

The two embraced once more, both a blubbering mess. Max patted Ibe's shoulder and pointed his head to the other room. The other man nodded and they walked out together, giving the two a moment alone.

"Y-you actually died?" Eiji stammered, tightening his grip on Ash's hands. They were both seated across from each other on Ash's bed.

"Yeah," the blond said, squeezing back, "my heart stopped and everything. They got it to start up again, but I guess I didn't wake up for a few months." He explained the entire story that he had been told by the doctors and Max while he had been in the coma. Eiji had stopped crying, but his eyes were still glistening with tears.

Ash pulled one hand away to lift the edge of his shirt. There was a decently sized scar where Lao had stabbed him. Eiji's eyes widened and he reached out, fingers gently brushing the mark. "Pretty ugly, huh?" Ash asked with a soft chuckle.

Eiji's touch remained pressed on the scar as he lifted his own shirt. His gunshot wound had left a very subtle indent on the left side of his torso. "I guess we match, huh?" Eiji said with a small chuckle.

Ash smiled as softly touched the uneven skin. "I guess so."

"They've been quiet for a while," Ibe stated, glancing toward the hallway. He gripped tighter onto the mug in his hands. "You don't think—"

"Oh hush," Jessica waved a hand, "they're teenage boys; let them have some alone time." Ibe let out a small huff and took a sip of his drink.

Max shifted in his seat. "And you're just  _ okay _ with that?" he said, flinching as she glared at his words. "N-not that I don't support them, I just—" he sighed and deflated in the chair, choosing instead to sip at his coffee.

"Fine," Jessica rolled her eyes and stood from her seat, "I'll go check on them." Both men quickly stood from their chairs to stop her, but backed away as she glared back at them. She quietly approached Ash's bedroom and listened for a moment before gently unlatching the door. She quickly pulled it closed and rushed back down the hallway, waving the two men with a huge smile on her face.

They joined her at the doorway and peeked into the bedroom. The two boys were wrapped up in a large blanket, both softly breathing as they slept. Eiji's fingers were loosely tangled in Ash's hair as he held him on his chest. Their audience in the doorway couldn't help but smile, so happy to see the two together once again.


End file.
